Parkhurst
A locational surname meaning “the wood by the park” or “park wood,” especially tied to Parkhurst in the Isle of Wight.
The #6,024 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 54,090 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Parkhurst is an English locational surname built from park and hurst, an old word for a wood or wooded hill. The literal sense is “park wood” or “the wood near the park.” Early writers also connected the name with Parkhurst in the Isle of Wight, which appears in Domesday Book as Parcus Regis, later forms showing the same place-name element.
History
Historical surname dictionaries treat Parkhurst chiefly as a place-name surname, especially from Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, though other places with the same formation could also have contributed. The name is found in England by the 16th century and later appears in records in London and elsewhere. It also crossed to North America, where it remained a relatively uncommon surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The old element hurst shows up in many English surnames and place-names meaning “wood,” as in Ashhurst and other similar names.
From the historical record
“House [v. Park and Houbb] PARKHURST (Eng.) Bel. to Parkhurst = the Park-Wood [v. Park and Hurst] Parkhurst (Forest), I.o.W., is mentioned in Domesday Book as Parcus Regis. The Surrey Parkhurst occurs in the 16th cent, as Parkehurst. PARKIN PARKYN I = Perkin, a dim. of Peter, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)